Governor Jeb Bush, Governor Rick Scott and Senator Marco Rubio all had the chance, Rubio had the chance twice,

to bring the Women’s Rights Bill (ERA) to the floor for a vote

and

decided that it was not important enough yet,

Senator Marco Rubio even states this on a TV Station!

Before Hillary Clinton: Women in Florida politics

By Dinah Voyles Pulver, dinah.pulver@news-jrnl.com

Woman’s Suffrage locally and in Florida

1893 Florida Woman Suffrage Association organized

1912 – A group of women in Orlando attempt to register to vote on a sewerage bond election

1913 – A group of women in Lake Helen form the Political Equality Club

1916 – 16 affiliated suffragette leagues around the state, including in Lake Helen and Orange City

1918 – Suffrage movement makes gains in the annual legislative session with local bills making women eligible for municipal suffrage in DeLand, Daytona Beach and Orange City

– Statewide suffragette convention takes place in Daytona Beach

1919 – State Rep. Murray Sams of Volusia County said he was “unconditionally and unqualifiedly opposed to woman’s suffrage and everything that promotes it. He said it was “as impossible for women to be equals of men in determining questions involving suffrage as it was for them to be their equals physically.”

June 1920 – Federal woman suffrage amendment submitted to the states, but Florida Governor Sidney Johnson Catts refuses to call a special session

August 1920 – 19th Amendment declared part of the US Constitution, Florida officials say it invalidates existing state laws and allow women to vote in the general election

1928 – Mamie Eaton Green of Monticello elected to state Railroad Commission, the first woman elected to statewide office

1929 – Edna Giles Fuller of Orlando becomes first woman to serve in Florida Legislature, elected to House of Representatives

1962 – Beth Johnson is first woman elected to Florida State Senate

1969 – The state of Florida finally ratifies the 19th amendment

1972 – Paula Hawkins becomes first woman elected to statewide office, by winning seat on Public Service Commission

1980 – Hawkins becomes Florida’s first — and so far only — female U.S. Senator.

1986 – Betty Castor becomes first elected female Cabinet member after winning the race for Education Commissioner

2003 – Toni Jennings becomes Florida’s first female Lt. Governor

Source: “The Woman Suffrage Movement in Florida,” by A. Elizabeth Taylor in the July 1957 Florida Historical Quarterly; State Archives of Florida and Visit Florida.